The Irish airline Ryanair is launching a new connection from Salzburg Airport to Birmingham in Great Britain. From 6 December 2025 The route will be served once a week. The announcement is part of the airline's expanded winter program for Austria. In addition to the new destination Birmingham, Ryanair already offers connections from Salzburg Airport to Alicante, Dublin, Manchester, and London Stansted.
Directly linked to the introduction of the new route is Ryanair’s renewed and sharp criticism of the Austrian government. The budget airline demanded Abolition of the air transport tax of 12 euros per passenger. According to the company, these "excessively high and uncompetitive access costs" are slowing the recovery of Austrian air traffic, which, unlike other European countries, has not yet returned to pre-coronavirus passenger volumes.
This demand joins a series of similar appeals from Ryanair and other airlines. Ryanair recently announced that, in response to the high taxes and airport fees in Vienna, it would withdraw three aircraft from the Austrian capital and cancel three routes there for the 2025 winter flight schedule. Competitor Wizz Air had previously even announced the closure of its base in Vienna, also citing increased costs as the reason. The Austrian Ministry of Transport emphasizes in this context that fees and charges are set within the framework of EU regulations.
Despite the tense situation, Ryanair reaffirmed its commitment to Austria's regional airports. It is prepared to increase annual passenger traffic in Austria from the current seven million to twelve million passengers by 2030. However, this growth forecast is linked to the Abolition of the air transport tax to make Austria more attractive as an aviation location in Europe. Ryanair cited European examples such as Slovakia, Hungary, Sweden, and regions in Italy that had already abolished such taxes.